The Calling (10) : A beautiful melody drifts on the air from somewhere far away. The vocals are in a language you don't quite recognize, but feel somehow familiar to you. Something about the song calls to you, but no matter where you go, the song seems to sound the same distance away. The longer it goes on, the more emotional the song becomes--and the more emotional you become. Something about the song is possessive and consuming, like it's all you can think of. Something resonates in you as the song crescendos, and the feeling is at its strongest--be they good, bad, anything, but suddenly the song fades, and there's only an emptiness inside of you. The feeling of loss is strong, and can leave someone feeling emotionally numb. Someone out there was calling to you, and you couldn't find them.
The sun had just about fallen, Good Boys One through Three were playing chase in the front yard, and the backyard was full of birdchatter. Listening to a distinctive three note query, Malory idly wondered how a quail ended up here. And when it would leave. Inside the atrium, he drank some lukewarm tea, and continued to write notes in the margin of a script he had decided against taking, but wanted to lend the production crew a few extremely valuable opinions.
Pushing up a pair of entirely unnecessary reading glasses, Malory glanced at the clock and made a pissy little hmmm hmmm sound. It must be nice to not be grievously injured and limited in activity, hmm? Must be lovely to be out and about and frolicking among the masses, hmmm?
Malory conjured up visions of parties, impromptu dances on bars, trampoline athletics, makeout sessions on horseback, and a number of other activities of increasingly unlikelihood for Eles to be up to in order to work himself into a properly morose the sickly wife is being abandoned and neglected at home mindset. But honestly, the speculation was a little fun for it.
“I hope he does get ******** by an alligator wrangler, actually.”
Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2025 5:48 pm
The walk home proved quite long, but Eles wanted enough time and space between destinations for his thoughts to work themselves out on the way. He knew it was at least a mile from the store, probably closer to two. Lucky timing on his part, too, for how the sun dipped so low on the horizon that it bled out across the sky.
The ambience always changed before he made it to Malory's gate. While obviously well-to-do, enough of the city had encroached on what had undoubtedly been a sprawling suburb that a mew few blocks a way produced a very different tone. Storefronts and shuttered houses that, while they weren't quite meth houses, their denizens likely lived there because they had no other choice. The streets were poorly patched. The sidewalks heaved upward where elderly roots dismantled them. Construction spray-paint and half-finished projects where pieces were dug out and left unattended had marked his paths home.
Eles still made it to the right street before sundown. Still let himself in past the gate with the jingling plastic bag at his side intact and the rest of him unmolested. He let the gate swing close on its own and quite narrowly missed getting bowled over by three little black figures that rushed between topiaries.
He flipped them off. Affectionately, of course.
Letting himself in, Eles shut the door behind him and leaned against it with a sigh, bumped the back of his head against a sturdy wooden panel as he stared upward. It was only the sound of pencil on paper that alerted him to the boy's presence. A boy who he thought would've been upstairs in his room. His expression perked a bit, the corners of his mouth rising with his spirits. Then he pushed off from the door.
"You need glasses?" Eles didn't recall ever seeing him wear them before. Slipping his burden of a plastic bag under the table, Eles pulled a chair around that he might sit backward in it and lean over the back of it to peer on Malory's work.
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Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2025 5:49 pm
Hearing the dog's welcoming and dismally rowdy greeting, Malory smiled down at the papers, knowing the Fourth Best of their number had made his way home. A smile very firmly turned down by the time Eles came into the atrium and settled in next to him. He had definitely been off having fun without Malory, after all. It would be a shame to allow for that without some coaxing, spoiling, or being pleasantly mean to him.
This deserves a more looming tableau. It’s exciting!
Cut. Boring internal jackoff bullshit is for film, not the stage.
For lighting inspo refer to Sparrow Riley’s 2023 work in…
The crying shouldn’t be out loud.
The notes were nothing particularly amazing or insightful, but Malory had liked the script enough to have opinions on it. Which meant that others were going to have to see them. And likely hear them in greater detail once it was in production and he decided to drop in and snoop around.
“No, not at all.” He turned his head to peer at Eles over their rims. “But sometimes I prefer a more academic atmosphere.” As in, he was a shameless poseur today as well. “Would you like a pair?”
Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2025 5:49 pm
Eles scrunched his nose at the idea. "No?" He couldn't determine what glasses had to do with an academic atmosphere — seemed Malory needed to be in the library if he wanted that — but he kept his likely uninformed opinions about that to himself. Instead, he reached out to abscond with said glasses by the rim and looked through them himself, as if disbelieving that Malory had no use for them. But sure enough, peering through the lenses was no different than staring at Malory with nothing between them.
So, with care and coordination, he replaced them on Malory's face. Then his arms folded over the back of the chair again. And his feet shifted restlessly behind him.
He'd been going through more than enough scripts of late, hadn't he? All that marginalia, all the stapled papers left all over the house, the empty glasses of wine or tea. Malory never complained of being bored to him; Eles imagined he was quite smart enough to stay entertained without any outside assistance, but he wondered how much the boy could really take without going stir-crazy. By now, he was certain, Eles would have lost his damn mind. That Malory hadn't was, well, gently concerning.
And he hadn't even mentioned the club since then. Or the outfits. Or even made a joke about wearing said outfits to the stage play he wanted to see. It was as if none of that had happened and the state of his ribs happened out of a vacuum. Though it was still Eles's fault and he'd be damned if he ever forgot it.
"How are they?" Reaching out, Eles gave Malory's side a gingerly poke. "Still attached?"
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Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2025 5:50 pm
Eles peering through the glasses was a little more adorable than academic, Malory though, eyes fluttering closed at the were gently returned to him. Placing the script down and pencil atop it, he gave his full attention to the boy looking at him with what seemed to be…concern?
Taking the poking hand, Malory placed it gently back across his side, palm flat against the healing slice of rib. “They’re better than they should be,” he answered.And the hurt, but it was a pain that he found he could be friends with. Saying hello and goodbye regularly, or just sitting together in companionable silence.
“And they haven’t decided to run off together just yet.” He brought the hand to his lips, and asked, “So what were you off doing today? Let the invalid live a little through your eyes, hm?”
Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2025 5:50 pm
They still felt warm in an uncharacteristic way for the boy, who never seemed to retain heat. Even if they were better than they should have been, they still weren't better. And Eles rather missed being able to explore the world of Destiny City with Malory. Was he really so content to just stay in his ebony tower?
No, he thought, not when he begged for a meager story like that. Thoroughly dismantled Eles's ******** feelings on the matter, too.
Eles's gaze dropped while that boy took his hand captive. Made a request that should have been so easily fulfilled. Reluctance softening his voice, he replied, "I can't tell you yet. It's a surprise." A quick glance under the table confirmed that, yes, the plastic bag was shoved into a sufficiently hidden spot for anyone who may have had two broken ribs, and yes, it was sufficiently opaque that any prying midnight eyes might be unable to see what lay inside it. "But it wasn't anything exciting. Needed more materials for your birthday gift."
He paused a moment. A soft consternation fell over his features as he waged a silent war with himself, as he weighed options so precisely for how they might benefit either of them.
"What if," he tried tentatively, "I could make it up to you? Like fix you today, right now. No more broken ribs. No more hobbled healing." And he squeezed the hand that had taken his, a singular lifeline out of introspection.
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Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2025 5:51 pm
The lack of a story, of an Eles Day in the Life was immediately forgiven with the mention of his birthday gift. The way he was both open and secretive about it was a little childish,sweet, and assuredly destructive given the mention of power tools. Malory found himself looking more forward to it than anything else planned for that day. Thinking of it, he should probably make a demand of his parents. Maybe a boat, or motorcycle. Something he could leave the keys to the Fourth Best Boy to take care of, that Malory could inspect with great scrutiny from time to time.
But Eles was asking a very interesting question. “If you want me to be better right away, then let’s make me better right away?” Malory’s answer was a bit questioning itself. He didn’t feel it was particularly up to him how quickly or slowly he healed. He left those ribs in Eles’s hands to decide what to do with them. And as far as Malory was concerned, they remained in those hands.
“What happened?”
Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2025 5:51 pm
"Close your eyes," Eles instructed. "And hold out your hands."
Eles fell silent for a moment, uncertain of how to tell that story. How to thread it with the gold that Malory so loved to pick out of stage plays and performances, that he so often wound around his fingers in contemplation until he was sure how he wanted to sew it back into the plot. The boy asked him for stories, after all.
"They came at an awful price, but…" As he turned his chair to sit in it a margin more sanely, Eles reached into the bookbag that oft carried his sketchbook. Down past the Moleskine, past the set of pens and pencils so frequently jostled around, there lay a zipped compartment that he tugged open. Two gemstones, light as dewdrops, were easily corralled into the palm of his hand.
He watched Malory expectantly. "I was told they could fix you. Quickly."
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Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2025 5:51 pm
Malory leaned in close for a better look, then sat back and took off the glasses. Moving in close once more, he scrunched his brow in confusion. “Are those…starseeds? Real ones?” As if Eles might’ve been scammed at some festival stall.
“What price?” He somehow doubted that a few people’s lives were what Eles meant. What lay behind their acquisition was, in all honesty, much more interesting than what they could do for his ribs. Those would heal eventually, all on their own. But starseeds wouldn’t simply show up all on their own, now would they?
Had Eles uncovered, at least in part, his existence as Faustite? No, he was much too uncertain for that. But his boy was being touched, in some manner, by the Negaverse once again. Reaching out to touch one of the small, glowing stones, Malory wasn’t sure if he liked that. But it was still a smile, playful and pleased, he turned back up to Eles, “They…eat them, right? Should I try?”
They were a gift for him, after all, regardless of the cost. Even if his boy had been scammed, the reason he got them was clear, undeniable, and gave Malory a different kind of ache.
Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2025 5:53 pm
"Real ones," Eles confirmed. Brilliant and limned softly, they rolled about in his hand when he disturbed them with a finger. They weighed practically nothing, but had a gravity about them that commanded a measure of respect before wasting them. Consuming them for tasks so mundane as an extra burst of energy or a little quick healing. "Got them from someone who could pull them."
Offering the first one to Malory, he pinched it deftly between index and middle finger. "Well. Maybe not that awful overall. I'm supposed to come work for them — the Negaverse — but not for a couple of weeks." It would be a terrible shame for this stint with the Negaverse to prevent him from finishing that birthday present on time, or — perhaps worse — actually miss that birthday. Or any time or outings they agreed to spend together pending Malory's ribs reattaching where they were supposed to be.
He nodded. While he hadn't seen it happen, he had it spelled out to him. Insert starseed into mouth, bite down, profit. Free font of energy. Free escape from the pains of being broken on the inside. All at the low, low cost of one person's life and every life they might have lived thereafter.
Eles liked the poetry of it. And, really, his boy was playing a few different roles for him, wasn't he? So he was already doing the work of a few different people. That deserved a couple lives sacrificed for his betterment.
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Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2025 5:53 pm
Taking the offered, well, soul, Malory put it to his lips and pressed his tongue against its shining, pointed surface experimentally. Nothing, really. “Work for them? Like an intern?” Or was somebody really intending on trying to corrupt him? If it was the one that had failed last time, what if that meant testing to figure out why?
For a moment, he couldn’t help but glace at Eles with a look of soft despair. It was where he came from after all, and likely where he had to return. Where he’d choose to return when more began to resurface. Malory rolled the starseed back with his tongue and bit down, hard. Eles would be fine and Malory would just learn to co-exist with whatever bit of worry the boy dragged out of him.
The gesture was so honeyed with care that the starsweet should’ve tasted sweet, but instead it was the taste of lightning striking through his person once more. It was nothing and power and the sudden burst of his own blood hitting his teeth. His body jerked as the quiet pain in his ribs sang out with new and vibrant life. That searing slice passed through bone after bone until it was all his ribs, and then every other piece of him. He tried to scream but somehow it was all blocked off. He felt like if he could scream that maybe it would stop or lessen, it had to be released. Please, please release him. He had to go. Let him go.
At a glance, Malory had turned paler than ever, his chest heaving with short, rapid breaths, sweat already pricking along his temples. His eyes were wide and vacant, glossy with panic.
“Let…let go,” he gasped out as the shadows in the room began to stretch and lengthen until he was left in full, absolute darkness.
Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2025 5:54 pm
"Join them, I guess." Which had its drawbacks — it made a demand of effort from him — but Eles didn't think it would be overly strenuous. Plus, it came with some perks, like the teleportation that he and Malory lamented about not terribly long ago. And if he could exert some influence over youma, then perhaps Hybris would only be mauled when Eles deemed it well-deserved and appropriate.
Eles peered quizzically, leaning forward on his elbows when he saw Malory twitch. While he stilled, his every muscle looked taut as a string, almost like they were trying to flee from his bones. Eles hadn't thought to ask about the process of recovery with a starseed; would it hurt as everything knit back together? Was it hurting him now? Had he been tricked?
A seeping chill made home in him when he witnessed Malory's pallor grow so stark as to look like a bloodletting victim. Like what sat before him was the ghost of Malory, who had long since died. Or, with those staccato breaths, like he lost too much blood and stood on the precipice of death. Like he'd given until there was nothing left to give, nothing left for himself. Eles swallowed, hard.
Not knowing what else to do, he followed through with the feathered whisper of a command. Pulling back, he watched Malory with increasing concern.
But what the ******** could he do? He didn't have anyone's phone number memorized. He couldn't call Adam and ask if this was normal. He couldn't use his cell phone even if Malory stocked it full of helpful contacts. He didn't know any neighbors. No one was in walking distance. And how the ******** would he explain any of this to a 911 operator?
'Please send an ambulance. My boyfriend just ate someone's soul and he's turned white as a sheet for it.' Like that would go over well.
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Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2025 5:54 pm
He’s in the dark room and Mom and Dad haven’t come yet. There is a dog barking outside and he wishes they’d let it in. He’d like to pet the dog. He’d like to not be alone.
The breathing slowed, but the sound of it stayed ragged. Malory turned his head toward the atrium door, leading out into the garden and in a small voice, tight with tears, “Can you let it in?”
It hurt so much. Had they hurt him? He must have been bad again. It always made people cry, but maybe this time it made people hurt him instead. Outside, the barking dog is joined by somebody singing. He doesn’t know the language. He just knows its pretty and it says he’s been bad. Nobody will come because he’s bad. The dog is barking because he’s bad and it won’t come inside.
Crying outright, he turns to Eles, eyes still empty save for the tears, “I was bad?”
He should apologize, but he doesn’t know how to mean it.
Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2025 5:55 pm
Eles looked back toward the door, brows furrowing. It? If he meant the trifecta of Best Boys, he'd have said them. But what else could he mean?
Sliding off the chair, he headed for the atrium door and swung it open. Stood there for a moment, as if Malory heard something else that Eles couldn't, but he hadn't found anything. Just the still, humid air while the dogs trampled back and forth in the grass. Eles whistled for them regardless, though he doubted they would heed him the way they heeded Malory.
For a moment, he stood there with his hand on the knob, but half-turned when he heard Malory's voice. Strangled and tight, those words only deepened his confusion. "What?" He murmured.
Eles left the door standing open as he returned to the boy, then a measure of urgency chased him over when he spotted those runnels of tears down that pale face. Malory only cried when Eles broke his ribs; what the ******** was happening? Was Malory having a psychotic break? Was Eles hallucinating?
"What the ******** are you on about?" Eles asked as he came before the boy, but Malory hadn't looked up at him. Rather, he looked through Eles to something distant and damning. "Hello? Are you there?" Reaching for those thin shoulders, Eles shook him gently. Gave him a few gentle smacks on the cheek.
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Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2025 5:55 pm
The singing got louder and more insistent, they must be right outside now, right by the dark room. He didn’t understand but he understood that he was bad, that he got what he deserved, that nobody was coming for him, and that it hurt so bad. It all hurt so so bad.
And then, somebody was there, even though he was bad. They reached out to him, even though he was not very good. A hand was touching him and Malory burst out into sobs that wracked his chest, that made his chest bloom and vision go white red white. He reached out to hold them and cling, hard as he could, and that hurt even more. Red white red.
“I thought you wouldn’t come,” and because he was still bad, his words weren’t grateful at all. “You weren’t here.” They were accusatory and hurt where they weren’t simply choking on how sad he was. “I was alone.”
The music didn’t stop, threatened that he would be left again. And again. Because there was only a small dark room for someone like him. The world belonged outside.
